Abduction Survivor Kara Robinson Chamberlain Urges Others to Trust Their Instincts While Investigating Cold Cases

Kara Robinson Chamberlain was 15 years old when serial killer Richard Evonitz abducted her on June 24, 2002, from a friend’s home in South Carolina. Now a victim advocate, she hosts the ABC News Studios and Freeform series “Somebody Knows Something,” which reexamines unsolved disappearances and homicides with the goal of generating fresh leads that could resolve decades-old cases.

Chamberlain’s own survival began with a moment she wishes she had heeded. When Evonitz pulled into her friend’s driveway, her instincts immediately registered danger, but she rationalized his presence and suppressed her alarm. Evonitz then brandished a gun, forced her into a storage container in his vehicle, and transported her to his apartment, where he held her captive for 18 hours and subjected her to repeated sexual assault.

During her ordeal, Chamberlain employed multiple coping mechanisms to survive. She memorized details about her surroundings, strategically appeased her captor to lower his guard, and relied on what she describes as a dissociative trauma response that allowed her to remain emotionally detached. Once Evonitz fell asleep, she freed herself from her restraints and escaped, flagging down strangers in a parking lot who took her to police.

Chamberlain’s testimony led officers to Evonitz’s apartment, but he had already fled. Police tracked him to Sarasota, Florida, where he took his own life at age 38 as authorities closed in. Evidence from his residence and vehicle linked him to the abductions and murders of three Virginia girls: Sofia Silva, 16; Kristin Lisk, 15; and Kati Lisk, 12. Chamberlain believes Evonitz may have claimed additional victims, a mystery that remains unsolved.

Now speaking publicly about her experience, Chamberlain emphasizes the critical importance of listening to one’s intuition. She references “The Gift of Fear,” explaining that society teaches people to suppress instinctive warnings to avoid seeming rude or hurtful, despite these impulses existing as survival mechanisms. She encourages both adults and children to recognize and act on their instincts.

Chamberlain’s work on “Somebody Knows Something” centers families at the heart of cold cases, allowing them to discuss their loved ones beyond the circumstances of disappearance or death. She completed training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in 2010 and worked as a school resource officer for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Her law enforcement background informs her approach to interviewing grieving families and understanding investigative processes.

Chamberlain has rejected the notion that families of missing persons will achieve true closure. She argues that families living with unresolved cases face lifelong trauma regardless of outcome—whether their loved ones are recovered alive, found deceased, or never located. This perspective shapes her mission to help families obtain answers while acknowledging the permanent emotional weight they carry.